Tour pro still unconvinced by Bryson DeChambeau: "I've seen both sides"

English tour pro Eddie Pepperell says he remains unconvinced Bryson DeChambeau has turned a corner having witnessed 'both sides' of the box office golfer. 

DeChambeau has always been a contentious figure in the world of men's professional golf. 

During his PGA Tour days his unique approach to the game and the fact he sometimes didn't shout 'fore' rubbed some people the wrong way. 

One of those was Brooks Koepka who revealed it was actually DeChambeau's alleged slow play that sparked their feud. 

DeChambeau has been in the headlines over the last few years but mainly because he was one of the LIV players who took the PGA Tour to court and he's been complaining about a lack of world ranking points. 

But there is absolutely no denying that he has attempted to give back to the game through his charitable efforts and YouTube videos. 

Say what you want, but in this scribe's opinion he was absolutely must-watch TV at the 2024 Masters and last week's PGA Championship. 

The aforementioned Pepperell agreed when he discussed DeChambeau in the latest epsidoe of The Chipping Forecast. 

Unsurprisingly, he told presenter Andrew Cotter and the BBC golf journalist Iain Carter that he didn't want a LIV player to win. 

And it's clear he still has mixed feelings about the American. 

"The cynic in me gives it at least a 50/50 chance that he's not genuine," Pepperell said, referencing DeChambeau playing to the crowds at Valhalla and stepping in when a grown man snatched his golf ball that he lobbed to a kid. 

Cotter asked: "Does it matter?"

Pepperell continued: "I think it doesn't if it comes across as mostly genuine. 

"Obviously to Bryson - the issue maybe to Bryson - is that there's been enough things happen in his career where, you know, it makes you just doubt [him], it gives you a bit more doubt.

"I think with Phil Mickelson he rarely had those instances during his career that made you, certainly publicly, consider whether or not it was genuine and I think for a long, long time everyone believed that this is Phil Mickelson."

He added: "Listen, of course, I think we're all like that to some degree."

Pepperell told the pod about the time he and DeChambeau were playing a tournament in Saudi Arabia. 

The Englishman's luggage got lost and so DeChambeau bought him some toothpaste, along with a few other bits and bobs.

"He was genuinely very kind," Pepperell said. "He did it, nobody else did it and he was very nice."

But on the fairways it was a different story. 

"I played with him a couple of months after that in Mexico and I remember having a conversation with him," he said. 

"We were having a conversation down one hole and, just mid-conversation [he] just completely cut out and started talking to his caddie about something else as if he was entirely vacant the whole time.

"And so I think I've seen both sides of Bryson and I think because he's a superstar and because he knows he's a superstar I think he plays up to that. 

"I do think he's also tried to turn a corner, personally, and so these acts of service if you like are becoming a bit more ingrained and a bit more genuine. 

"But I still ... I'm not sure I'm fully bought into Bryson. That being said, I love his game and I love what he does for the game and the way he goes about his business. I think he's totally refreshing."

Pepperell said apart from Jon Rahm, DeChambeau is the player most missed on the PGA Tour. 

"He's always generating stories," he said. 

We agreed when we discussed DeChambeau in the latest episode of The Par FORE Podcast presented by GolfMagic. 

Watch that here: